The X-Files - Series 6 - Complete DVD > Reviews > Is the truth out there?

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	entertaining, variety storylines and unpredictable
Disadvantages:	sometimes hard to follow

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

History of The X Files

The X Files is an Emmy award winning show that was created by Chris Carter. The show first aired on 10th September 1993, and ended on 19th May 2002. It is the longest ever running sci-fi show in America and had a real big impact on television.
The series is well known for looking for extraterrestrial existence, spirituality, and conspiracy theories of the government. Every episode sees a new story that takes on a journey for the truth and discovery of monsters, conspiracies and alien encounters.

Every episode always starts with a teaser to get an insight in what the episode has install for the audience. This few minute opening gets the audience attention and makes you what to know what will happen next. This is followed by one of the most recognisable theme tunes and opening credits which end with the memorable slogan – The Truth Is Out There.

The show is always famous for other slogans apart from The Truth Is Out There; it has other famous quotes such as Trust No One and I Want to Believe (which is seen on Mulder’s poster in his office)

The show is basically about two agents Mulder and Scully working for the FBI are assigned to investigating unsolved cases involving paranormal activity called the X Files. Mulder created the X Files department for the purpose of finding his alien abducted sister, Samantha. Also he wants to find the truth that aliens do exist and to discover the truth about what the government is hiding. This theme is in all nine seasons of the X Files.

Season 6 (1998-1999) was made after the internationally successful movie The X Files – Fight the Future. The season sees the X Files reopened to be run by new boss, Assistant Director Alvin Kersh (played by James Pickens, Jr). Also new agents are added to the X Files, Special Agent Jeffrey Spender and Special Agent Diana Fowley.

Characters

Special Agent Fox William Mulder

He graduated Oxford University in 1986 and entered Quantico Academy and earned the name “Spooky” with his colleagues. In 1988 he was assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit. In 1991 he is transferred to the X Files department. He was then assigned a partner called Scully. Mulder is convinced his sister was abducted by aliens with his goal in the X Files is to find her and to find out the truth on what happened to her. Mulder is very committed to his work and having very little of a personal life. He has had no relationships although there could have been something between him and Agent Fowley. He is well known for being a “believer”. His other interests include Basketball and watching porn.
Mulder declined the opportunity to cooperate with writer Jose Chung who appeared on the X Files.
Played by David Duchovny

Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully

Scully joined the FBI directly from medical school where she worked for 2 years at Quantico Academy but was assigned to the X Files in 1992. On October 1994 she was kidnapped by Duane Barry which Mulder believes she was abducted by aliens. However she was found in the intensive care unit at North Georgetown University hospital on November 1994 with no memory of what had happened to her. In 1995 her sister Melissa was killed by a gun shot at her apartment by unknown assassin who was believed to be assigned to kill Scully. She is well known for her areas of forensic medicine and pathology which is used often in the X Files.
Scully is a scientific sceptic even though she is Catholic.
Played by Gillian Anderson

Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner.

He is an ex–marine and is strict to when it comes to by-the-book investigation techniques. Its is unknown on what sort of working relationship he has had with the Cigarette Smoking Man. Throughout the series it is unknown on what side he is on.
Played by Mitch Pileggi

Cigarette Smoking Man, or known by Mulder, Cancer Man.

He first appeared as the silent smoking suited man who was a mystery to his part in the FBI. However throughout the series we found he plays a huge part in the government. He is apart of the Syndicate, or Consortium group which was created to hide the truth of alien existence to the public.
Played by William B. Davies

Special Agent Jeffrey Spender played by Chris Owens.
His mother, Cassandra believed she was abducted and became close friends with Mulder. He has no interest in the X Files but was assigned to the department by an unknown person.

Special Agent Diana Fowley played by Mimi Rogers.
She worked with Mulder before Scully and has a strong relationship with him. There have been rumours that they were more than just friends. The series sees the real truth behind her real intentions working on the X Files.

Assistant Director Alvin Kersh played by James Pickens, Jr
He has taken over the role of Assistant Director Skinner and has no interest in the X Files.

The Lone Gunman
They are a group of men who are good friends with Mulder who help him on the discovery of the truth as well as writing there magazine, The Lone Gunman. There are 3 members:
Langly – played by Dean Haglund
Frohike – played by Tom Braidwood
Byers – played by Bruce Harwood

Episodes

The Beginning

This episode is straight after the film. Most of the files are destroyed and Agents Spender and Fowley are assigned to the department instead of Mulder and Scully. Meanwhile the Syndicate are performing brain surgery on Gibson Praise who has the ability to read peoples minds. He is taken out of surgery to help the committee to find an alien that has escaped when one of there workers infected himself with an alien virus and that this virus ultimately produced an alien. The alien then ripped away the victim's chest from the inside as it birthed itself. Gibson somehow escapes from the Cigarette Smoking man and is found on the back seat of Mulder and Scully’s car. When they seek medical attention for Gibson, Scully finds out Gibson is part extraterrestrial.

Drive

The episode sees a man in a stolen car being chased by police cars. When they finally get the car to stop the man is arrested but the woman dies in a mysterious way, one side of her head explodes. When in jail the man starts to suffer in the same way he wife did. When being taken to hospital he escapes and hijacks Mulder’s car. Mulder discovers he must drive west to help reduce the pain and stop him from dying the same way his wife did. Meanwhile Scully searches where they lived to find out what could cause this strange disease. Scully finds out that a power surge caused a build-up of pressure in the inner ear, which is killing people.

Triangle

Mulder investigates the strange occurrences on the Bermuda Triangle only to get him stuck on the Queen Anne ship on the 3rd September 1939 on which the same day repeats itself. However the ship is invaded by Germans who are searching for an important Atom bomb scientist. The twist to this episode is that characters in the show are very similar to the people who are on the 1939 ship. We see Scully who works for the scientist and the smoking man and Spender as evil German officers. It’s up to Scully to find out where he is and to save Mulder before he is killed by the Nazi officers.
I think this is one of the best episodes they have done and very cleverly done.

Dreamland Pt1 and Pt2

This was a special two part episode in which Mulder and Scully meet Chief Agent Fletcher when told to leave the land around Area 51. However after a bizarre craft flies over the Mulder and Fletcher, they find they have switched bodies. Now they both have what they have both always wanted. Mulder has access to Area 51 and Fletcher gets to be single man who can use his good looks to seduce Scully.

Terms of Endearment

A woman finds out that the baby she is carrying has a strange head growth. That night she has a dream that the devil takes her child, when she wakes she finds her baby has gone. When Spender does nothing to investigate the case, Mulder decides to ignore his assigned work with background checking and investigate it himself. Mulder believes the husband, Wayne, is a demon. However Wayne has a number of other wives who are also pregnant and all have the similar head abnormality. It seems the demon is trying to conceive the perfect normal child he craves.

Rain King

When a drought town, Kansas rains hail stones in the shape of hearts on Valentines Day, a man claims he has the gift to make it rain. So when he starts to charge desperate farmers, Mulder and Scully step in to investigate the strange events in the town. It turns out the weather controller is the local meteorologist, who is sub-consciously causing the drought, due to his undying love for the Rain King's fiancée.
I like this episode when Mulder of all people gives him advise on dating.

How the Ghost Stole Christmas

In this episode we see Mulder so how convinces Scully to investigate a haunted house on Christmas Eve. The house is haunted by a couple who killed themselves so they could be together forever. So for fun they haunt other couples who visit the house and convincing them to kill each other as well. They do this by using psychological tricks on there minds, which it nearly works on Mulder and Scully.

Tithonus

Assistant Director Kersh assigns Scully to a case with Agent Ritter who are investigating how photos of crime scenes seem to be taken at different time indicating that the photographer is turning up a little too early at the murder scenes. They find out it is Alfred Fellig who has worked as a police photographer for many years and has looked 65 for about 40 years, so he must be over 100 years old. Scully discovers that Fellig can’t die so has been following death so he can finally die in peace. However when Ritter shoots Scully which was intended for Fellig, Fellig takes Scully’s place and finally gets to die.

S.R. 819

This episode we see Assistant Director Skinner becoming suddenly ill with a mysterious disease. Skinner has been infected with some nanotechnology that is growing carbon barriers in his arteries. The levels of Carbon is controlled a mysterious man who’s identity is hidden. He uses an electrical dial to control what level of pain Skinner should receive. With only 24 hours for Scully to try to save him the man turns down the dial and Skinner become well again. But Skinner forbids the agents to continue on there quest to find out who is responsible for his illness. At the end of the episode we see it Krycek (a previous agent of the X Files who turned to the dark side) is behind it all and plans to use this device to blackmail him.

Two Fathers (Pt 1) One Son (Pt 2)

Spender’s mother, Cassandra, is finally found after her abduction after doctors performing surgery on her but was interrupted by the mutilated faced men (aliens on previous series) burned all her doctors. It seems the Syndicate which the Cigarette Smoking man works for had previously worked with the mutilated faced men to produce alien-human hybrids for when they invaded earth, but the Syndicate were secretly trying to discover the cure for the black oil or also called black cancer that the aliens use to kill people. Cassandra is the first to become a successful alien-human hybrid and is the signal for the invasion to begin. Spender finds out about what his father, the Cigarette Smoking man has been doing to his mother, who Mulder and Scully identified as being C.G.B. Spender. He confronts him only for the Cigarette Smoking Man to shoot his son.

Arcadia

After the events that occurred with Cassandra and Spender being found dead, Mulder and Scully are reassigned to the X Files. For there first assignment they go undercover as the perfect married couple in an ideal community estate. The estate follows strict rules and anybody that doesn’t follow the rules is discovered dead. Mulder believes they are being killed by a beast, but who is behind it?

Agua Mala

During a hurricane in Florida, a building is being terrorised by a sea monster that is living in the water works. As the number of people the monster kills rises they find out the only way to stop it is using fresh water to repulse it.

Monday

Another excellent episode that debates on the existence of fate and free will.
This episode sees Mulder and Scully trapped in a time loop where everyday a bank robbery always occurs and Mulder gets shot and blown up. The only person who knows they are all stuck in a time loop is the robber’s girlfriend who is trying to end it. It’s up to her to convince the agents to help stop her boyfriend and to finally to stop the same day occurring.

Alpha

This episode is when a wild rare dog creature escapes and goes on a killing spree. However the Agents find out that the dog is a Wanshang Dhole, a very rare breed of caned from Asia thought to be extinct for the past 150 years. This episode is based on werewolf theme.

Trevor

After Pinker, a violent prisoner is sent to the punishment box during a tornado. He is given the gift of being able to walk through solid objects. He uses this to his advantage by killing the guard and going after his son, Trevor. The only things that can stop him are either glass or rubber, so basically its pointless trying to shot him. The agents try to track him down but its Trevor’s mother who gets him in the end.

Milagro

Strange murders have been occurring where a man is able to pull peoples hearts out of the chest but leaving no sign of how he did it as the victim's heart was removed without any incisions, no prints, or any forensic evidence. Mulder believes it’s his new neighbour, Phillip Padgett who is responsible, who happens to be a writer. The writer is writing about psychic surgery and it includes Scully in the book, who he has become obsessed with. However the book he is writing seems to be coming alive. The only way to stop the killer psychic surgeon is to get him to kill the creator.

Three of a Kind

The Lone Gunmen are at a defence contractor convention in Las Vegas where Byers sees his true love that was abducted by the government 10 years ago called Suzanne Modesky. She tells them of how she is involved in the production of a mind-bending drug. Soon a conspiracy nut has been murdered and Suzanne finds a tracking device in her tooth, so they decide to help her public the truth. However the CIA drug Scully into a seductive bimbo and Langley into killing Suzanne. However the plot is discovered and they manage to get Suzanne a new identity and is saved from the CIA.

The Unnatural

David Duchovny actually directed this episode.
The episode tells us about a talented black baseball player who appeared 50 years ago at minor league team in Roswell, New Mexico. He was an alien who ran away from his colony because he loved to play baseball and morphed into looking like a black human. But the Alien Bounty Hunter is after him to kill him for leaving and betraying the colony.

Field Trip

The episode is about the investigation of the digesting skeletons of a missing couple. But during the investigation Mulder goes missing and Scully suffers headaches. Only to find that the mushrooms are giving of hallucinate drugs while the soil is slowly digesting there bodies making them believe they are still alive.

Biogenesis (Pt 1 out of 3)

Scientists theorise that the objects they have discovered on an African beach are pieces of a puzzle which could be proof that human, plant and animal life did not originate on this planet. When one of the scientists is killed and the objects are stolen, the agents investigate and Mulder begins to experience severe neurological pain caused by the objects.

Conclusions

Positive

One of the main reasons on why to buy the X Files DVD is because the series is very different from other shows on the television. When the show was made it opened the door for other shows to be broadcasted with the similar sci-fi and paranormal style shows e.g. Supernatural and Ghost Whisperer. All of The X File storylines are full of mysteries, extraordinary tales and strange accounts mixing in a blend of folk tales, extraterrestrial stories and monster style legends.

The adventurous plots are different in every episode with a similar storyline of finding the truth theme throughout the series. All the episodes are extremely entertaining packed with gripping storylines full of anticipation on the discovery for the truth. The show can be unpredictable with many twists during the story, resulting in a mixture of emotions from heart warming stories to scary tales of abduction and creepy monsters on the loose.

The show is well known for the Mulder and Scully style of relationship. With them being both very different in there views and opinions it gives the show a more different edge to it. It’s great to watch the tension between the two with Mulder trying to convince Scully into believing the more paranormal theories whereas Scully tries to make Mulder see sense that he should believe more in the hard facts of science. The difference of views gives the show more of a balance than other shows where generally most of the characters are all believers. Also the show is different for having the man as the believer and the woman a non-believer which is different from the traditional style of other shows.

As well as Mulder and Scully the show is great for having a whole mixture of different characters. The show has characters in which it’s hard to see what side they are on and others in which you love to hate e.g. The Cigarette Smoking Man. Season 6 has allowed us to see more of old characters such as Krycek and Gibson as well as developing other characters such as Skinner.

Even thought the special effects are not as good as today, it should still be credited for as well as the amount of research that has gone into each episode. All of these factors are reasons why the show has been such as a big hit. This is why the show is still watchable now even though season 6 was made in 2000.

Negative

There are some bad points about the series. One of the main bad aspects of the show is that it can be hard to follow which I have heard from people who could not get into the show. It can be quite confusing with Mulder’s wild theories and Scully’s scientific views.

Being hard to follow could be also due to the show being for a certain target audience who are interested in the paranormal or anything that is science fiction. However the show has got people interested in this field of television just by watching the show.

Some fans don’t like season 6 from other seasons as there is a visible change in the show. One of the man problems is that The X Files has lost its famous Monster of the week style to the show that has been seen in previous seasons. Now other styles have been added resulting in fewer mythological episodes. However it depends on what types of storylines you like best from The X Files.

Price

Play.com - £14.99
HMV - £12.99
Amazon - £30

Overall the show has been a big success with the show for running over many years and winning a number of awards. The show has a huge fan base and will be remembered as one of the greatest television shows in history.

Thanks for reading :-) 

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